US stocks fell across the board Monday as chip-related shares tumbled, with investors treating Samsung Electronics' record earnings as a negative. International oil prices jumped around 3% on news that ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.
On the New York Stock Exchange Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 52,925.15, down 130.76 points, or 0.25%, from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 33.58 points, or 0.45%, to 7,503.85, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 302.47 points, or 1.16%, to 25,818.69.
Among the top technology stocks by market capitalization, Apple fell 0.64%, while SpaceX (-6.83%), Broadcom (-0.83%), and Tesla (-4.02%) also declined. Nvidia (0.71%), Microsoft (0.54%), Amazon (0.75%), Google parent Alphabet (0.16%), and Facebook parent Meta (2.55%) rose despite the downturn.
The New York market was led lower Monday by chip-related stocks, including Micron (-4.71%), AMD (-6.51%), ASML (-4.26%), Intel (-9.66%), Applied Materials (-6.46%), and Lam Research (-6.87%). The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also fell 4.65%.
The weakness in US chip stocks is presumed to be a reaction to Samsung Electronics' earnings the previous day. It means that although Samsung Electronics reported record-level preliminary second-quarter results, the figures fell short of investors' expectations. Samsung Electronics said it posted revenue of 171 trillion won and operating profit of 89.4 trillion won on a consolidated basis in the second quarter of this year. On the news, Samsung Electronics slid 6.92% and the KOSPI index fell 4.91% in the Korean market.
News that ships near the Strait of Hormuz were attacked also fueled the market's weakness. US online outlet Axios reported that Iranian forces fired at least two missiles at merchant vessels passing through the strait Monday. According to US sources, both ships suffered significant damage, but there were no casualties. According to the Qatari government and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a total of three vessels near the Strait of Hormuz have been attacked since the previous day, including one Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier and two oil tankers. The US revoked its sanctions waiver on Iranian crude oil, citing the attacks. It came just two weeks after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end hostilities.
International oil prices surged on news of the ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. On London's ICE Futures Exchange Monday, Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 3.01% from the previous session to $74.16 a barrel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for August delivery also jumped 2.76% to close at $70.44 a barrel. Both Brent and WTI marked their largest gains since the first of last month.
